The New York Times off-leads the bombings and instead leads with President Bush's plans to propose eliminating the tax on corporate dividends, and not, as previously reported, cutting it in half. According to the NYT, the move would cost $300 billion over 10 years. [...]

Bush's proposed cuts get a beating in the papers. The NY Times says "many economists" think they won't help the economy. According to the Post's off-lead, an analysis by two big-time economists concluded the same thing, although they added that the economy is just so huge that most cuts wouldn't have much of an effect. Meanwhile, the Post's lead editorial chimes in: "Let's see if we have this right. President Bush plans to propose a stimulus plan the centerpiece of which will have little or no stimulative effect. And at a time when some people badly could use help, Mr. Bush's tax cut mostly will help those who need it least." (Slate's Daniel Gross has also argued against the cuts.)

A front-page piece in the Post says that the White House is going to propose what amounts to a freeze on non-entitlement and non-security-related domestic spending. The shut wallet means that states˘many of which are in bad financial shape˘won't be getting much help from the feds this year. The WP points out that the administration is also planning on cutting in a few places, including $300 million from a program meant to help the poor with their heating bills.

So make sure you have this right:

• Cutting dividend taxes won't stimulate the economy, nor would just about any tax cut
• The disproportionate benefit to the rich is huge, even though CNN buries the percentages in its story: out of 30,200,000 tax filers and $103.2 billion in reported dividend income, 48% of the dividend income belongs to people who reported over $100,000 per year in total income, the top 17% of taxpayers. 25% belongs to people who reported over $1 million in income -- the top 1% of taxpayers. That top 1% gets as much benefit as the 50% of taxpayers who reported less than $50,000 in income combined.
• To pay for this folly, the White House wants to cut other spending, including $300 million -- 1% of the dividend tax cut over ten years -- from a program to help poor people pay for the oil industry's heating oil product.

Of course, any politician who points this out will be shrilly accused by talk radio and the "liberal media," like Fox News, of "class warfare." Apparently it's fair to actually rip off poor people so the rich can be richer, just not to talk about it.

This administration is trying to eliminate every tax it can on unearned income -- dividends, capital gains, inheritances, you name it. If you didn't work for it, you shouldn't have to pay taxes on it. If you're stuck working for a living like 99% of the country, well, the tax burden is on you. Now we know where the "compassion" in Bush's administration is expressed.